Do You Need A Water Softener System?

How do you know if you need a water softener system for your home? You could have your water professionally tested, but there are a few telltale signs to look for that will tell you if you have hard water that could potentially cause problems.

A water softener system is used to treat hard water. First of all, it’s important to understand exactly what it means to have ‘hard’ water.

Water is generally considered to be hard if it has high levels of certain minerals in it, such as iron, magnesium and calcium. Minerals in your water aren’t necessarily a negative thing, since they are an essential part of your diet but they can cause problems that range from minor inconvenience to issues that will actually cost you money.

High iron content in your water usually becomes an issue when it leaves rusty stains on everything. It can be very frustrating trying to keep your laundry looking clean when everything has an orange tint. Cooking with iron-rich water isn’t always pleasant either. Who wants to eat potatoes that are the color of rust? However, in spite of the visual unpleasantries, iron is actually not the most harmful culprit when it comes to hard water damage.

Calcium is the biggest offender that leads most people to install a water softener system. You might think, why calcium? Isn’t calcium healthy? Of course it is, but it isn’t as healthy for your pipes and appliances as it is for you. Calcium is the main component in bones, teeth and eggshells, among other things. What do all of these things have in common? They’re hard, and calcium is what makes them that way.

So, how does calcium affect your water? Water that has a high level of calcium can cause a variety of problems in the household due to the accumulation of scale deposits. Scale is a hard, flaky eggshell-like substance that collects on any surface touched by the hard water. It accumulates on the insides of water pipes as well as inside any appliances that use water such as dishwashers or washing machines.

Hard water is also notoriously hard on coffee machines. One of the biggest concerns caused by hard water is its effect on the hot water heater, since heat makes the scale build up more. What happens is the scale collects on the heating element of the hot water tank, creating a sort of insulating blanket.

Instead of radiating the heat out into the water to heat it, the majority of the heat is contained inside the insulating blanket of scale. Because the element is unable to heat the water as effectively it must work much harder than it normally would to maintain the desired water temperature. This means higher electrical bills and it can shorten the life of the water heater significantly.

A water softener system will either eliminate or neutralize the calcium in the water, depending on what type of system you have, and prevent it from clogging your pipes or doing damage to your household appliances.